6
Below Stella, the doorstep’s terracotta tiles vibrated. She shifted from one foot to the other, expecting to find a family of beetles wriggling under her boots.
Curious, she thought, having just watched Oberon cast his spell. There’s nothing there. Then her eyes bulged as realisation hit her. She barely had time to react.
‘Whoa!’
The doorstep exploded, hailing her with sharp chunks and throwing her several feet into the road. She landed upright but disorientated. Behind her, a vine snaked from the hole that had appeared in the tiles. Its skin, wrinkled and ancient at first, quickly became bulbous, filling with life as it fanned out, sprouting new leaves.
Tingling with tension, she side-eyed the crowd, who had scattered and were screaming. A tree wound from the road between them, dis
